MONDAY January 22
Full Moon effect
Scientists at Leeds University have proved that more patients visit their doctors at Full Moon than any other time of the month. In Bratislava, researchers have confirmed that gout and asthma attacks peak at new and full moons. Babies, according to a New York study, are more likely to be born just after a Full Moon, but more car accidents occur just before Full Moon. Urinary retention problems tend to get worse at New Moon while at Full Moon, people tend to drink 26 per cent less alcohol. All these are recent scientific findings. I predict plenty more before long.

Dear Raju,
I am not so sure Nostradamus linked comets to natural disasters so emphatically. His writings are notoriously difficult to interpret. It's also worth noting that several major earthquakes including the historic Tsunami, were NOT preceded by comets. Comets are traditionally bad news for royalty and political leaders who are trying to keep radical change at bay. And sorry to keep disagreeing but Virgos are not all gloomy, either!

WEDNESDAY January 24
Characteristics of the decades
Dear Jonathan,
is there an astrological reason why the Sixties were hippy, the Seventies flower power, the Eighties yuppie, the Nineties naughty and the ‘Noughties’... well, you tell me?
Uli

Dear Uli,
Different outer planet alignments characterised each decade. As I recall, though, flower power was part of the Sixties. The Seventies gave us punk and the Eighties, as well as yuppies, brought the rave revolution. Since then, notable youth movements have been rare. The Nineties were not so much naughty as tediously tame and the ‘Noughties’ have so far come to naught... but Comet Mcnaught may yet change that.

THURSDAY January 25
The heavens always have more to teach
Hi Jonathan,
Do you ever look at your past predictions to see if you were right or are you just always optimistically looking ahead? This year it is Pluto on the Galactic Centre. Last year, Lunar Standstills. Did they do what you expected?
Mike

Dear Mike,
...and the year before it was Sedna, the new planetoid that was rapidly upstaged by Eris - an even more important discovery. I stand by all I said about it, and about last year’s Lunar Standstills too. But no matter how long I study them, the heavens will always have more to teach me.

FRIDAY January 26
Our missing twin
Could our sun be one of a pair? Some scientists point to Sedna, the recently discovered planetoid, as the possible proof of this. The theory goes that millions of years ago, the stars were much closer together. Gradually, our twin drifted further away to the point where, though it is still out there somewhere, we can no longer identify it just by looking. Apparently, the eccentricity of Sedna's orbit can be explained in no other way. I predict that within a year or so, we will see our first undeniable piece of evidence for life, elsewhere in the universe.

SATURDAY January 27
Full Moon
We will feel the influence of Comet McNaught for months to come. That brief, bright beacon on the horizon has presented us with a challenge. Our relationship with the physical world has to change. Nature needs us to show her more respect. How can we respect the planet, though, when we do not respect one another? This week's Full Moon echoes that invitation to stop and think. How do we relate to our fellow passengers on spaceship Earth? Are we ready to choose forgiveness over resentment and a willingness to learn over a desire to dominate? The more open we are willing to be, the brighter the future can become.

SUNDAY January 28
Full Moon
We will feel the influence of Comet McNaught for months to come. That brief, bright beacon on the horizon has presented us with a challenge. Our relationship with the physical world has to change. Nature needs us to show her more respect. How can we respect the planet, though, when we do not respect one another? This week's Full Moon echoes that invitation to stop and think. How do we relate to our fellow passengers on spaceship Earth? Are we ready to choose forgiveness over resentment and a willingness to learn over a desire to dominate? The more open we are willing to be, the brighter the future can become.